Engineers Defeat Clark, Advance to Pilgrim Tournament

May 01, 2010

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A 9-3 run that spanned
the second and third quarters helped power MIT to a 10-7 victory
over Clark University in a Pilgrim Lacrosse League game on
Saturday. With the win, the Engineers (8-6, 4-3 Pilgrim) secured a
spot in the conference championship tournament for the second year
in a row and will continue their season on Wednesday, May 5 at a
location to be determined following the conclusion of regular
season play. The Cougars closed their campaign with an overall mark
of 6-8 and a 2-5 Pilgrim ledger.

Carl Tilbury paced MIT with a game-high four goals while Dan
Piemont registered a hat-trick. John Kucharczyk posted one goal and
two assists as Corey Garvey and Tom Hay scored once. Garvey added
four groundballs to his outing while Alex Andrzejewski contributed
four groundballs and an assist. Gabe Blanchet and Nick Sisler both
earned an assist as Christopher Rullan tallied 15 saves and three
groundballs.

Chris Johnson led the Cougars with three goals followed by a
pair from Chris Adams. Phil Winslow notched two assists while
Garrett McAdam and Shawn Roche both chipped in a goal. Kyle Klapp
totaled three groundballs and one assist as Roche scooped up four
groundballs. Matt Fields won 10 of his 16 faceoff attempts and
gathered a game-high six groundballs while Andrew DeVito had eight
saves and one assist.

An unassisted goal by Kucharczyk put the Engineers on the board
three minutes into the contest. Clark won the ensuing faceoff and
quickly tallied the equalizer on a strike by Adams that was set up
by Klapp. The visitors captured a 2-1 lead with 4:22 on the clock
when Winslow found Johnson for a man-up goal.

MIT recorded four goals during the first seven minutes of the
second quarter to go ahead for good. Garvey started the scoring run
when he redirected a pass from Blanchet just 36 seconds into the
period. Hay's solo effort was followed by back-to-back goals from
Tilbury the latter assisted by Sisler. Johnson ended the visitor's
scoring drought with an unassisted goal at the 4:49 mark. The
Engineers countered with a strike by Piemont that put them up 6-3
heading into the intermission.

The Cardinal and Gray carried the momentum into the third
quarter as its advantage eventually grew to six (10-4). The opening
stages were a defensive battle before MIT mounted a 4-1 spurt that
began with 9:44 on the clock. Kucharczyk earned assists on goals by
Tilbury and Piemont that were 38 seconds apart as Piemont's came
during an extra-man opportunity. Roche connected on a pass from
Winslow to bring the Cougars within four (8-4) at 8:33, but Tilbury
continued the Engineers' scoring flurry 2:23 later. Piemont gave
MIT its largest lead of the day when he converted a feed from
Andrzejewski. With less than a minute remaining, DeVito wove
through MIT's defense on a clearing attempt and found Adams to make
the score, 10-5.

Early in the final period, DeVito turned away a shot by Blanchet
and in the pursuit for the loose ball DeVito left the net. Piemont
came up with the groundball and momentarily had a shot at the open
net, but DeVito quickly scrambled back in to make an acrobatic
save. The Cougars immediately sprinted up field with Johnson
recording the quick transition goal at 13:00. Clark continued to
attack, as it outshot MIT, 15-5, during the quarter, including a
six-shot barrage during the next two minutes. The Engineers made
several charges at the net, but their attempts were turned away.
McAdam narrowed the Cougars' deficit to three (10-7) with 5:29 left
to play. Clark maintained the pressure down the stretch, but it
would get no closer.